Unfortunately I wasn't planning to. It even came with some extra sheet metal.

I was on my way home from running errands. No noises up until then. I pull out of a parking lot and am getting up to speed. Start hearing "whump, whump, whump" and the truck starts vibrating. Immediately think "drive train" so I flip out of 4wd, turn into the next parking lot and get out to look. There's nothing obvious. I've got power, no grinding, brakes work, no flat tire, nothing hung up underneath. WTF?

I'm only a short distance to home so I get back on the road, keep my speed down, turn the hazards on (I'm going down a busy main street) and limp home. I notice the sound is definitely coming from the passenger rear and has a pattern so it's the tire.

Get home to take a closer look and this time it's staring me in the face. The only thing I can think is "Holy crap! Why can't Ford build a vehicle that the parts stay on, instead of rusting off?"

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Get out the tools and change it up. It's not just stuck in the tread. It's a puncture with small air bubbles. Off to the tire shop Monday.

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Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but how do you know it came off a Ford?

Educated guess.
You said it yourself: "it came off..."
Parts don't come off by themself unless it's a Ford.
Silver paint over a piece of rusted sheet metal.
Broken bolt laying in the flow of traffic not moving, waiting to get picked up.
That's the definition of a Ford to me.

(Also, I have an inherent dislike for all things FoMoCo. )

Oh, okay... because it looks like a Chevy bolt to me.